There are a number of reasons why you’re encountering the shell_exec() curl command failed error message. Best guess is that you are likely using a Windows environment. Nevertheless, you’ll want to review this tutorial. If you’re still having problems, please send us an email view the Contact page.

Are tutorials written in other programming languages besides PHP?

CCB Tutorials are primarily written in PHP due to churches not having the technical expertise on staff.

With most individuals not having formal training in software development or a degree in Computer Science, PHP was chosen as it is quite simple to learn. PHP allows a problem to be solved in a short manner without having to major in software development or Computer Science.

Also, often times churches tend to use WordPress, which is based on PHP, as their website’s content management system (CMS).

If you would like to for tutorials to be written in a programming language that aligns to your website, please send us an email to let us know which language. We’re quite excited to build and grow the programming languages that are used to code tutorials.

What is the difference between inactivating an individual and setting the status for an individual to inactive?

Setting an individual’s status to inactive leaves the person in the CCB system and searchable. Inactivating an individual will make the individual identified by the ID inactive, and is a logical delete of the individual. Once made inactive, the individual will no longer be available through API requests or in most areas of the CCB system.

How do I know which required and optional parameters a service accepts?

All API service calls require a srv parameter that contains the name of the service being called. All API services accept a describe_api optional parameter that has a value of ‘1’. This will cause the service to return the values it accepts as parameters and the format of the service response.

What’s the difference between ‘group members’ and ‘group participants’?

The Group Services frequently reference ‘group members’ and ‘group participants’. The difference between the two is the individual’s status in the group. ‘Group members’ only refers to people who are listed as members; it doesn’t include, for instance, group leaders, assistant leaders, or people still requesting to join. ‘Group participants’, on the other hand, refers to all people who are connected to the group, regardless of their status within it — leader, member, requesting, etc.